The Wahpeton times., 1887-05-12

the truthfulness of any of
is accusations had stamped them all
md singly as falsehoods. unmixed
lnmitigated, unmeaning, black, bot
'omless. Now, Mr.. Editor, I am far
from supposing You capable of any
thing of the kind. know that you
are not. At the same time you
even need not fear being too often
that a consciousness of be-
ing in the right is usually supposed
to manifest itself in a willingness to
allow an opponent full and fair
statement of his case. All l ask,
whether of paper, pulpit, politician
or populace, is fair play. and that I
propose to have.
A very careful reading of Rev.
Mr.. Pinkham's sermon on Temper
ance, published in your issue of
April z, discloses as his leading
thought the following, viz: You
of the Temperance Reform, whether
members of the so.called churches
or members of Independent organi-
cations, both as to the aim and the
spirit of your work, are all wrong,
while we of the Episcopal Church
alone are right. Look at several of
his positions separately, and see if
taken together they do not lead up
to this.
l. He repudiates prohibition.
[al Per Sc: ga portion of the trade
in both hard and mild intoxicants
is perfectly legitimate" bl AS
abortive: "The only reason prohibi-
tion has ever seemed to succeed is
that it has never prohibited"
2. He repudiates totol abstinence.
Tal AS not required for ones own
sake: "The Bible is not total alb
stinence book" [bl AS not re.
quired for the sake of others "When
a man urges that it is my duty to
abstain for his sake, he is simply
impertinent, and that is the whole
of it,"
3. He repudiates as unscriptural
any definition of temperance which
does not include both use and mod
GRAFTON. aI If he drinks too much
he is Incorporate: "The divine law
of love denounces drunkenness as a
SIM" [b] If lie drinks too little OF
none he is Incorporate: "Temper.
ance means using a thing and not
abusing it,"
4, His remedy for the evils of
intemperance is two-fold. Ia High
license "What then is the practical
and rational solution Of that prob
lem which occupies so much of
the public attention at the
present time =? 1t is restriction
or high license. No other measure
devised by the friends of temperance
reform has given greater satisfac-
tion or conferred larger benefits
upon the community that has adopt
it than high license" b The
grace of God in the heart: "There
are few eases on record among the
hundreds of reclaimed drunkards in
which the reclamation was perm;l-
nent unless it was preceded and fol
lowed up by religious influences. -
"Religion alone can furnish strength
to resist temptation" Temperance
is one of the fruits of the spirit -
Furthermore, he claims,
III That all efforts to Christianize
the character must be through the
channel Of the church "This new
temperance is allied to the church
in what it has to bring in the way
of truth and grace "God does
not impose laws on us without Of
fering us help to keep them, and
then comes in the idea Of grace and
sacrament "The man is fortified
because the church is behind him -
and,
I2I That the claim of other
churches than the Episcopal to the
possession, under God, of this re-
formatory power upon character is
without validity. First, it is not in
those churches themselve "There
is in connection with the Episcopal
church II temperance society known
Us the Church Temperance Society,""
and "the temperance forwarded by
this society is certainly new in this
country" "Her treatment of the
subject is radically different from
that pursued by outsiders" 1.-THE
temperance advocated by them is too
often incorporate in zeal, in Ian
guage, in spirit and in principle, y
Secondly. it is not in their ministry:
they are not 'iawfully constituted :"